Research
Welcome to WELL Labs’ knowledge repository. As a futures institute that enables research-based solutions and impact, we prioritise making our insights accessible to social innovators, researchers, allied communities and the public at large.
Impact Assessment of Groundwater Collectivisation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
This study assesses WASSAN’s groundwater collectivisation programme in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which improved irrigation access and reduced borewell drilling through shared infrastructure. It highlights the potential for scaling in regions facing water scarcity and fragmented irrigation access.
Monitoring and Evaluation of Recharge Pits in Marathwada
This study highlights the need for a holistic, landscape-level approach to water management in Maharashtra’s basaltic regions, ensuring that interventions align with local hydrogeological realities.
Unlocking Nature-Based Solutions
WELL Labs and RMI convened a multi-stakeholder workshop to co-develop actionable solutions for scaling nature-based solutions across building, neighbourhood, and city levels. This synthesis report presents a detailed overview of the deliberations.
MGNREGA Planning in Karnataka: Assessment of Digital Tools and Capacity-Building for Natural Resources Management
WELL Labs and EDF conducted a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) exercise to assess the effectiveness of the Government of Karnataka’s Jala Sanjeevini programme. This report looks at how GIS tools like CLART are used to improve MGNREGA’s natural resource planning.
How Can We Measure Water Security Accurately?
This learning note explores the need for a framework like WISER (Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience)—a science-based approach to tracking and enhancing water security in India. WISER leverages data, remote sensing, and stakeholder engagement to support evidence-based, equitable, and sustainable water management.
Phase 1 Results of the Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience (WISER) Framework
WISER (Water Index for Sustainability, Equity, and Resilience) is a science-based framework to track and improve water security across India. It leverages data, remote sensing, and stakeholder inputs to enable evidence-based, equitable, and sustainable water management. This study showcases the results of the initiative’s first phase.
Jaltol: A Quasi-Experimental Approach to Evaluating Watershed Interventions
Jaltol is a web app that helps evaluate the impact of watershed programmes on both water access and economic prosperity
Paired Watershed Studies: Evaluating the Impact of Watershed Management Interventions
A paired watershed study is a research method that compares two neighbouring watersheds over an extended period to understand how changes in land and watershed management affect hydrological parameters
Staff Gauge: A Guide to Measuring Aquifer Recharge through the Water Balance Method
There is considerable spatial heterogeneity in rainfall patterns in India. This makes the staff gauge method especially useful as it can be easily applied to multiple water storage structures.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Toolbox
An overview of hydrological assessment tools for better monitoring, evaluation, and learning in watershed management